Astronomy in the Inland Northwest

AL Council Meeting - July 13, 1999

The 52nd Annual Meeting of the Astronomical League Council began at 9:00 AM in room 261 of the Pence Union Building, on the campus of Eastern Washington University, in Cheney, Washington, immediately preceeding the opening day of ASTROCON 99. There were 21 attendees out of a possible 25. Astronomical League Council is made up of the Chairman and Representative from each of the ten regions of the Astronomical League and the AL Executive Committee.

Reports for all AL Committees and Regions have been filed with AL Executive Secretary Janet Steves, and included as part of this year’s Council Meeting Minutes. These reports are available on request from AL Executive Secretary Janet Stevens. The following report is a transcription of personal notes taken during the meeting.

1. AL Growth

Bob Gent reports that the AL is experiencing rapid growth, resulting in a need for additional funds to support its activities. One way the League is trying to increase both growth and income is through the new MAL program. Meade Instruments has agreed to include an AL Tri-fold in each of the boxes it sends out to customers. They have already sent out over 10,000 flyers. As the program continues to evolve, we will need to send out additional flyers. The cost of an individual flyer is $.10 each. The flyer is full color on both sides. In order to cover the costs of additional flyers, Meade has donated an LX200 8-inch telescope, worth $2800, to be auctioned off at the business meeting on Saturday. The opening bid will be $1500.

Changes in the MAL program flyer can be made to customize each mailing as we learn what works best. The current response on flyers is 20/10000. Bert Stevens recommends that we make a test mailing of flyers to a list of subscribers to S&T magazine. If possible, the list should be split between old and new subscribers of the magazine, to help us determine which group is more likely our target audience. 1 percent is the return expected from such a mailing.

Bert and Janet Stevens are recommending that the League should be working toward the creation of a national League office. The extreme growth of the League has put pressure on all League officers, especially the Executive-Secretary. Furthermore, e-mail has become an extensive part of Exec-Sec duties, amounting to more than four hours of each day. The load is actually heavier on the weekends.

The size of regular mailings has increased, due to the growth of both the MAL program and new clubs. We need to take steps now for future growth.

Furthermore, since the Exec-Sec is currently an elected position, it might be better to create an appointed position of Executive Director as an employee of the Leagues. In times of peak workload, it might also be necessary to hire temporary help to do such tasks as mailing and data entry.

The AL Sales office continues to grow. Council needs to come up with a concrete plan by next council meeting. The Executive Council can act as the committee working to find solutions and new ways to deal with growth.

Barry Beaman remarked that the standing of the Astronomical League continues to grow in the professional astronomy community. and with the national magazines. A permanent established office would further enhance this standing.

As of Council Meeting this year, there are 16,876 regular members in 235 clubs or as MAL.

2. VP Report

AL Vice President Bob Gent reported that as the battle with light pollution continues to heat up, the AL needs to take leverage its position in the light pollution war. “Light Pollution is destroying the Science of Astronomy.” Since the battle against light pollution is a bi-partisan issue, not a political one, for the AL to take a position on this issue would not affect its 501©3 status as a non-profit organization which is restricted from political activities. To work effectively in this area, the AL will need to work with existing groups in their continuing battle.

Bob also recommended that the AL support the Stellafane Legal Defense Fund in its fight against the prison to be built within 4 miles of the Stellafane site in Vermont. As part of this effort, the AL must support the right of eminent domain in the state of Vermont. Sky Publishing Corp. wants to use the Stellafane Issue as a national campaign against light pollution. Kathy Machin says that the AL must do what it can until Federal Standards of Light Pollution, similar to standard of air and water pollution, have been defined.

Tim Hunter, who is also Chairman of IDA, recommended that the AL give a donation to Stellafane to help in their fight against the prison. Council resolved to make financial support depending on the final outcome of the AL Budget for the new fiscal year. Tim stressed that astronomers should not wait until a crisis to join IDA. The sum finall approved to send to the Stellafane Legal Defense Fund was $1000.

In other issues, Bob Gent reported that Bushnell Sports Optics will present a telescope to the winner of the annual Jack Horkheimer award. They will also present a telescope to the winner of the Mable Sterns newsletter award. Bob requested that because of the continuing involvement of both Bushnell and Meade in AL programs, that we, as council members, go out of our way to thank John Diebel and Darin Stevens for their help.

3. Treasurer’s Report

The main task of the treasurer this year, aside from duties of maintaining the books, has been to “regularize” all AL accounts and “pull in the strings” on unnecessary accounts, or accounts that are not properly utilized.

Many of the regions and committees within the AL umbrella have been using the AL Federal Tax ID Number improperly. This includes failure to make required annual reports to the treasurer, and failure to include the AL treasurer as a signer of all such accounts. In the past, annual reports to the IRS, although required, did not create much of a risk to the AL because of the limited need of reporting due to the small size of the treasury. Now that the AL Treasury has grown to $165,000 in all accounts, the IRS requires more stringent accounting. One of the tasks of Council in the next year will be to make sure that all accounts using the AL’s Federal Tax ID Numbers include the AL Treasurer as signer. Such a move will protect the AL from possible IRS audit, as will as protect the funds in Regional treasuries in such cases as regional officers resigning and leaving no record of where Regional funds are held.

Several times in the past, we have had the problem of a lost treasury, when either a region became inactive for some time, or when the treasurer left office or died without leaving an additional signatory on the regional account. There is also the possibility that, due to inaccurate record keeping, the figures reported to the AL treasurer are wrong. Since banks report the interest in all accounts to the IRS via 1099 reports, this results in the inaccurate reconciliation of accounts between the IRS and the AL, thus resulting in the risk of an audit for the Astronomical League. The national treasurer must have authority to access a regional or committee account that used the AL Federal Tax ID Number when that treasury is unaccounted for, or when regional operations are contrary to either AL policies or non-profit rules.

AL Treasurer Jackie Wade will be completing her two terms as treasurer at next year’s Council meeting. This office is becoming a bigger and bigger job and there are no candidates “in the wings” to take over next year. Jackie recommended that Dennis Sisson of the North West Arkansas Astronomical Society, who is currently AL Auditor, might be a possible candidate for the job.

The current status of all AL accounts is as follows:

Ed Flaspoehler recommended that the AL publish its annual budget on the web page, since this is public information.

Council also voted a 15% commission to be paid on advertising generated by the REFLECTOR editor or a specified Ad Coordinator.

Several Council members have indicated that they will donate their services in lieu of an expense payment. Council indicated that such a move is not a good idea, since it does not allow correct tracking for actual cost of operations. The correct way to proceed is to request an expense reimbursement, and then return it as a donation.

4. AL Sales and Merchant Account

AL Sales Coordinator Marion Bachtell has been doing research in order to determine how to acquire a Merchant Account and Online Shopping Cart of AL Sales. This year, Marion reports that AL Sales continues to grow, with the main items sold being the Messier Manual and the Herschel I and II Manuals. But all items are selling well. Marion now wants the capability of accepting credit cards both on the web and at conventions and through the mail. After Marion presented a detailed report listing various options, Council voted to allow Marion to use her best judgment as to which provider of Merchant Accounts to accept, and to spend up to $2000 to implement such a program. Council also authorized Marion to spend $1500 on a lap-top computer to take to regional and national conventions to access the online AL Sales shopping cart, once it is set up. Marion projects significant growth in AL sales once we can accept credit cards online. The same account can also be used for selling REFLECTOR advertising and MAL memberships over the Internet.

5. Web Page

Webmaster Bert Stevens says that the AL Web Page has been very successful in representing the AL on-line. The MarsWatch program has been very successful, and Bert uploaded 10 to 10 images per day during Mars opposition in May. There are approximately 70 to 80 hits per day on this page.

Once the AL Sales Merchant Account is in place, Bert will help Marion Bachtell to implement the AL Sales online feature into the web page.

6. Astronomy Day Award

Kelley Beatty of Sky Publishing Corporation reported that S&T funds all astronomy day awards and prizes, but that the selection of the winner is determined by Gary Tomlinson, as the Astronomy Day Coordinator for the League.

7. Project Astro and Pro-Am Cooperation

Barry Beaman reported that the National Science Foundation is no longer funding Project Astro. Project Astro is a program administered by the Astronomical Society of the Pacific to bring amateur and professional astronomers into the classroom for improved astronomy education in the classroom. The NSF had only furnished “seed money” for the program, which is now up and running, and which it expects ASP to continue. ASP originally created and funded the program using the NSF grant, and now also needs additional funding to continue it. ASP and the professional astronomy community see the Astronomical League as a source of amateur involvement.

During the ASP-Universe convention in Toronto this year, there was included a Pro-Am session. Of special interest was teachers looking for ways to include amateur Astronomers in classroom education.

Also during Universe, the American Astronomical Society created a working group to determine how cooperation can be improved between professional and amateur astronomers. They plan to have a meeting, at a site to be determined, as a signal to professional astronomers that amateurs are ready to participate. AAS is ready to make pro-am cooperation work, and has planned a meeting in 2002 to discuss this issue. The AL is assumed to be a repository of a database of interested amateurs that would be available to professionals. The AAS is also requesting a link from the AL web site to the AAS web site.

The Minor Planet Workshop in April 1999 is also of interest as a typical workshop which brought to bring together professionals and amateurs who have interest in a common topic.

The DPS Division for Planetary Science is also a good root for pro-am observations, due to the quality work done by people like Don Parker in planetary imaging from their back yard. The next DPS meeting will be in Garshing, Germany, to coincide with the Solar Eclipse on August 11, 1999.

One issue that is hindering wider cooperation between professionals and amateurs is that amateur astronomers do not have access to travel budgets like professionals. Such budgets allow professionals to travel widely to meetings in foreign countries which amateurs could not afford to attend on private funds. Fee reductions for amateurs attending conferences is one possible way to encourage more participation by amateurs at major conferences. Locating meetings closer to interested amateurs is another way to increase participation by amateurs.

The Astro-Alert Project is designed as a way for the professional supernova community to elicit the help of amateurs in the early detection of supernovae, as a way to alert professionals of the occurrence of new supernovae.

One final note that bears repeating is that amateur participants in professional research projects should receive adequate recognition of their participation in the project.

8. Regional and Other Items

Chuck Allen reported that the Astronomical League is interested in accepting proposals for sponsoring the Southern Sky Star Party in Bolivia, and other trips such as eclipse expeditions. All that is needed is a proposal. It is not necessary to wait until next Council Meeting for the Executive Committee to entertain such a proposal.

Bert and Janet Stevens received an award from MERAL chairman Sandy Sanders for their support of MERAL Activities. Bob Gent delivered the award for Sandy. The award was originally presented at the Mason-Dixon Star Party.

Both GLRAL and NERAL have not had elections for many years. Bob Gent will be attending Stellafane this summer, and will attempt to interest people in that region to run for regional offices and become more interested in NERAL. The prison problem at Stellafane is a unique, though unfortunate, opportunity to find an issue that will mobilize the North East Region. GLRAL leadership has not been taking an active role in GLRAL activities recently, so this region also needs to have a revitalization. NERAL is especially important to the Astronomical because of the large population in that area, important regional events, and a distinguished League history.

Wayne Johnson, Ed Flaspoehler, and Bert Stevens volunteered to host a booth promoting the Astronomical League during the Universe 2000 convention in Los Angeles, the weekend before ALCON 2000.

Ed Flaspoehler
Vice-President, AAAA